Sea2Sea project on track

The pieces that will start to build the map of the Sea2Sea project are falling into place. The establishment of the joint company between Greece and Bulgaria that will propel the ambitious project of the railway interconnection of the ports of Thessaloniki, Kavala and Alexandroupoli with three Bulgarian ports to the Danube, is getting closer. The construction of the Bosporus railway bypass, with a total cost of 6.5 billion euros, of which 4 billion projects correspond to Greece, will upgrade the developmental role of Northern Greece by creating an important new corridor for goods reaching Europe from the Far East.

In order to initiate the establishment of the transnational company that will implement the project for both sides, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport issued an invitation for the provision of legal advisory services. The consultant will undertake the assistance of the Fixed Track Infrastructure, Maintenance and Safety Directorate for the supervision of the ongoing “Rail T-K-A-B-V-R Project”, as it has been officially named from the initials of the names of the six ports: Thessaloniki, Kavala, Alexandroupoli, Burgas, Varna, Ruse.

It will also assist in the establishment of the joint Greek-Bulgarian company, in order, according to the invitation, to implement the optimal arrangement of the scheme under which the upcoming cooperation with the respective competent bodies of Bulgaria can be carried out, as well as the negotiation of the terms that will govern the scheme in question.

Previous agreements under scrutiny

In particular, the legal advisor will proceed with the study of the file that includes the transnational agreements and memoranda of understanding between Greece and Bulgaria related to the planning and implementation of the project, as well as the minutes of the transnational meetings that have been held in relation to it. It will also study the relevant legal analyses that have already been prepared in relation to its implementation.

He will also participate in official meetings with the transnational task force of the two sides and in meetings with the representatives and legal representatives of the Bulgarian side in relation to the planning for the formation of the joint company. The legal advisor will participate in the drafting and negotiation of the terms of the articles of association of the joint company as well as any relevant contractual text (Memorandum of Understanding, shareholders’ agreement, etc.) that may be agreed between the parties to be drawn up.

It is also foreseen that it will provide all the necessary advisory legal support to the relevant Department of the Ministry and to the companies and organizations supervised by the General Secretariat of Infrastructure that will be involved in the “Rail T-K-A-B-V-R Project”.

The history of the project

The starting point of the ambitious project was the memorandum of cooperation signed in September 2017 between Greece and Bulgaria by the then prime ministers Mr. Alexis Tsipras and Boyko Borisov. This provided for the establishment of the transnational company, modeled after the successful Rail Baltica, which will “run” the project, with the aim that it would then be ready by the first quarter of 2019.

The MoU provided for the upgrade of the railway axis to Varna to double track with electrification, enabling commercial trains to develop high speeds of up to 160 km per hour. This is the eastern part of the much-discussed Egnatia Railway in Greece and is part of the European Orient/East-Med corridor, which connects Central Europe with the countries of the Baltic, the Black Sea and the Southeast Mediterranean.

After a series of bureaucratic obstacles, financial difficulties and political scandals in Bulgaria, which bogged down the project, the interest of the two sides was reaffirmed two years later, in 2019, in the context of the “Silk Road” forum in Tbilisi, where from the Greek side the then Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr. Yiannis Kefalogiannis, was present.

Bilateral negotiations followed to promote the project, which is gaining momentum by upgrading the role of the port of Alexandroupoli into a defense and energy hub. Thus, in March 2020, the Sea2Sea project was at the center of talks between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his counterpart at the time within the framework of the High Cooperation Council between Greece and Bulgaria.

It is also a strategically important connection which will strengthen the position of Northern Greece in the commercial and in general economic map of South-Eastern Europe and will upgrade  the geostrategic role of the three ports. Bypassing the Bosphorus Straits will reduce freight costs, reduce travel time, while improving safety.

New financial tools unlocked

In the context of the large package of new generation railway projects launched by ERGOSE, totaling 4.5 billion euros, two projects are included that are part of the Eastern Egnatia Railway. These are the sections Thessaloniki – Toxotes and Alexandroupolis – Ormenio, with a total budget of 2.76 billion, which will connect the ports of Thessaloniki, Nea Karvali and Alexandroupolis with the national railway network. With the start of the two tenders, the two projects unlock for the Greek side a new European financial tool of 1 billion euros, which will be utilized for the implementation of the project. Funding is also the key to the overall implementation of Sea2Sea.